The wins advance the trio to the quarterfinal round in the Olympic qualifying event at the Ferial la Rural de Palermo.

Awesome was matched up against the Bahamas’ Davon Hamilton at heavyweight.. Clearly more experienced, Awesome showcased increased power at his new heavyweight division, pressing the action and hurting Hamilton on numerous occasions.

Awesome’s onslaught gave Hamilton standing eight counts in each of the three rounds. He continued to pour it on in the final round and after the third eight count of the bout, the referee called a halt to the bout, giving Awesome the TKO victory. Awesome will be back in action on Tuesday in a quarterfinal bout with Canada’s Samir El Mais.

“It went the way I planned. I’ve been working on a lot of things with our new coach Billy (Walsh) with jabbing to the body and stuff like that. He took a lot of good shots and he got three eight counts. He was hurt a few times,” Awesome said. “I am very proud of myself. He’s not a very experienced fighter so it was an easier fight than I’m going to have later in the tournament.”